Recording apparatus

Abstract

A recording apparatus includes a carriage carrying a recording head and being movably supported, the recording head being configured to eject liquid onto a recording medium, a plurality of driven units to be driven by a drive source that generates a driving force, a transmission-switching mechanism configured to switch between the driven units, a carriage locker configured to prevent and allow movement of the carriage, and a transmission-switching locker configured to prevent and allow switching between the driven units. Movement prevention by the carriage locker and switching prevention by the transmission-switching locker are in synchronicity, and movement allowance by the carriage locker and switching allowance by the transmission-switching locker are in synchronicity.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to recording apparatuses such as a copier and an inkjet printer.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Recent inkjet recording apparatuses are configured such that multiple operations, including feeding and conveyance of recording media and recovery of recording heads, are performed with fewer drive sources, for reduction of the manufacturing cost and space saving. In this respect, such a recording apparatus includes a transmission-switching mechanism configured to switch between a plurality of driven units to be driven by a driving force from a drive source.[0005]Such a transmission-switching mechanism performs switching between driven units by utilizing a drive source that provides a driving force to the transmission-switching mechanism, and another mechanism that receives a driving force from another drive source. An example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-330105...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014]The present invention provides a recording apparatus capable of solving at least one of the problems described above. For example, the present invention provid

Problems solved by technology

Specifically, the carriage engages with a restricting member provided on a swing arm and can cause a gear provided on the swing arm to slide.

In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-330105, however, there is a possibility of malfunction of and damage to the transmission-switching mechanism caused during transportation of the apparatus or by significant vibration and impact.

In some cases, repeated meshing and unmeshing of gears may damage the apparatus.

In other cases, meshing of a gear with an unintended train of gears may cause malfunction while the apparatus is in operation (or when the apparatus is turned on).

If the transmission-switching mechanism that regulates switching between driven units is combined with the recording apparatus, including the lock lever, disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-36604, the number of components increases, resulting in problematically complicated configuration and control method.

Moreover, since the regulation of movement of the carriage and the regulation of switching between driven units by the transmission-switching mechanism are performed independently, there still remains a possibility of malfunction of and damage to the transmission-switching mechanism caused during transportation of the apparatus or by significant vibration and impact.

Such a problem tends to be noticeable in a case where the regulation of movement of the carriage is performed frequently.

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